Date: Wednesday 11th January 2023
Dear Prime Minister
I am writing to you on behalf of Reunite Families UK [RFUK] and our members. RFUK is an organisation that supports and advocates for couples and families affected by UK spouse visa rules and we want to ask you to ensure that the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) for spousal visas is not increased in 2023.
On 26th December, whilst people across the country came together with their loved ones to celebrate, share joy and happy memories, it was reported in The Times that the Home Secretary plans to increase the MIR for spousal visas - a policy that has already ripped thousands of families apart, many of whom were separated over the holidays as a result. For families that already did not earn enough to be with their partner or children over the
festive period and for those who had hoped to be on track to earn enough money
in 2023, the news that the Home Office is looking to increase the MIR is beyond
devastating.
The journey to settlement is overly complex, bureaucratic and expensive. The reality is that families will be apart from their loved ones for over a year before they stand a chance of being reunited. If they are self-employed, that time apart is even longer. An initial spouse
visa can cost around £4,000 [with legal fees which have become more necessary] with
around another £3000+ every 2.5 years for further leave to remain. It’s a huge
price to pay for any household also dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. The
economy is struggling, the health system is crippled, and public services are
crying out for help. People across the country are already finding it
impossible to make ends meet, and so it is hard to fathom why, given all this,
the Home Secretary would want to push more families into debt, devastation and
destitution - and post Brexit, it will impact many more British citizens who
wish to return home to live in the UK with their loved ones. At a time when the
country is in crisis, we need families together - so they can thrive as part of
our communities, provide for themselves and their children, and support each
other as well as our wider society.
As a lived experience organisation, Reunite Families UK knows that women and young couples can often fall short of being able to meet the financial requirements, with many women forced to take on more than one job whilst looking after children. Young couples, too, who are at the start of their careers and whose salary doesn’t meet the current threshold. We also know that people reaching retirement age struggle to meet the current MIR. And as for adult dependent relatives, they have nearly zero chance of securing a
visa.
For those and many others who cannot meet the MIR, this intended rise in MIR will make family reunification here in the UK almost impossible. It has already caused huge mental and emotional damage to those navigating this visa journey and so Reunite Families UK is doing funded research into how it is affecting children and their families – and the
information coming through already is deeply troubling. Initial reports have
flagged that children are experiencing extreme issues such as selective mutism,
stool holding, depression, anxiety, guilt and even mention of suicidal thoughts
whilst adults/parents are experiencing extreme depression, anxiety, stress,
suicidal thoughts, enforced single parenting, loneliness, high levels of
avoidable debt and financial difficulty due to visa journey.
Raising the MIR is not just about the financial cost, it is about the devastating human cost behind it and that is why I would like to:
1) Welcome a meeting with you and some of our families so you can hear the real impacts of the current MIR first-hand
2) Ask you to put family values back at the heart of your family migration policy and halt
any increase to the MIR, especially at a time when too many are already facing
so many financial challenges and who need their loved ones with them now more
than ever.
3) We ask you to go one step further and abolish the MIR altogether.
Given the economic crisis the country is in, and the poverty being experienced by households across the UK, we’d also like to see much lower visa fees in line with administration costs, a route to settlement capped at 5 years and the No Recourse to Public Funds [NRPF] scrapped entirely.
Family values and family life are at the forefront of everything we do at Reunite Families UK. Like you, we believe families matter. Like you, we share the same wishes for a future Britain with family at the heart of it and giving them the best chances they can have here. Like you, our families want to be proud of our country; live in a fair society with
family values and compassion at the heart of it; feel hope again and be
positive about their futures and their children’s futures as a family here in
the UK. You can make that happen.
This country was built by migrant families and communities – and families like yours and the current Home Secretary. People moving here want to work and build a better life and future for themselves and their families – as your own parents and grandparents would no doubt have wanted when they moved to the UK. We ask that instead of pulling up the
drawbridge, and building more walls, this Government instead builds towards a
more compassionate immigration system, one that is warm, welcoming and enables
all families and communities to thrive.
I look forward to hearing from to you
With kind regards
Caroline Coombs - on behalf of all the Directors, staff, volunteers and members of Reunite Families UK
